Animal Update: Purple Striped Jellies

Two purple striped jellies have been added to our Jellies Invasion exhibit!

Published December 15, 2017

Purple striped jellies can be found primarily off the coast of California. This jelly has a white bowl-shaped bell with 16 purple stripes and very long tentacles. Their bell can be up to 3 feet wide, and tentacles can extend as long as 25 feet.

Young crabs are often found hiding in this jelly's bell. This is a symbiotic relationship – the crab helps the jelly by eating the parasitic amphipods that damage the jelly.

This jelly is an opportunistic predator. Their diet consists of mostly zooplankton, including copepods, larval fish, ctenophores, other jellies and fish eggs.

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